Fish Report

No recent fishing reports. River levels best for fishing are at or below 3,000 cfs, and the river is currently running at over 5,500 cfs at the gauge in Mehama. Flows will be fairly volatile over the next few weeks with expected high rainfall and reservoir levels continuing to drop.

Summer steelhead counts were much improved over last year with the count now up to 5,900 fish. Counts at Stayton show over 900 summer steelhead have entered the upper river. Some of these fish are still around and are available to anglers. 

This year’s strong coho salmon run is just about done for the year, but a lot of these fish are still available to the angler when flows are cooperating. So far they have counted over 17,700 adults at the Willamette Falls fish ladder as of Nov. 8. Enough of these fish have arrived in the basin that it is worth targeting them. Best opportunities to catch these fish are in the lower sections of the river below Mehama.

Anglers may see salmon actively spawning along the river. Please keep your distance and do not disturb them during this time so they can complete this vital step in their life cycle. Also, please keep your dog away from salmon carcasses as they can make dogs very ill, even fatally so, if they are consumed.

Fishing for hatchery steelhead is open year-round. Trout season below Big Cliff dam closed on Nov. 1. Bait is not allowed from Nov. 1 through April 21. Any unclipped (wild) steelhead or trout that are caught must be released unharmed.

The gate at Green’s Bridge will be closed the week of Nov. 14 so that the gravel road and parking area can be graded and re-surfaced.